If you're getting ready to cross time zones, new research suggests that fasting may help you deal with jet lag. While it's true that light regulates the circadian rhythm, an internal clock that determines when you sleep, wake, and eat, there may be a second internal clock that takes over when your body thinks food is scarce. 
It takes 16 hours of fasting to kick this clock into gear, and manipulating this clock by denying yourself food may help to adjust to a new time zone. Scientists experimented with this concept by offering food to mice only during times when they were supposed to be sleeping. Eventually, the mice that adjusted to this new eating schedule remained awake at nighttime in order to eat. Since we are mammals too, scientists think this strategy may work on humans as well.
It may be worth a try if you're traveling across the globe, but personally, I think not eating is a bad idea. Not only will it screw up your metabolism, but it'll make you cranky, dizzy, and give you a headache, which will only worsen your symptoms of jet lag.
on Yahoo! |
Yeah...I don't think I'll be doing this when I head over to South Korea. I can get pretty cranky, and sometimes even more tired, if I don't eat when I'm hungry. Plus I already have metabolism issues...why make them worse?